Guwahati, Oct 18: Regional parties, Assam Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal, here have called for repeal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), while referring to Thursday’s landmark judgment of the Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of Clause 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The parties claim the verdict clearly nullifies the legal validity of the CAA in Assam.
Welcoming the apex court’s ruling, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling, stating that the apex court has re-established the fact that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is “unconstitutional, and that repealing CAA has become mandatory.”
“With this ruling, the constitutional validity of the Assam Accord has been reaffirmed. The justice of our long-standing position, that the cut-off year for citizenship should be 1971, has been proven. It also demonstrates that the BJP’s stance on deporting foreigners is misleading and self-serving,” the party’s president, Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary, Jagadish Bhuyan stated, while referring to the ruling’s implications.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court had on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which allows immigrants – mostly from Bangladesh – who entered Assam between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971, to seek citizenship.
Terming the verdict realistic, timely and farsighted, the party leaders said the court has made it clear that anyone who had entered Assam illegally after March 24, 1971, was an illegal immigrant.
“This clearly nullifies the legal validity of the CAA. In essence, the court has re-established that the CAA is unconstitutional, and repealing it has now become a duty,” they asserted.
Notably, the CAA provides citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from three neighbouring countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
Accusing the BJP government of failing to fulfill its promise of deporting foreigners, the party leaders said that the government should at least honour the court’s decision now and take concrete steps toward the identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.
Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi, while reacting to the verdict, said the apex court’s ruling has now put to rest the long debate on the cut-off year.
“We term this verdict of the Supreme Court as historic. At the same time, this validation of the special provision, also means that all illegal foreigners who entered the state after March 25, 1971, now need to be identified and deported by the government,” Gogoi stated.